Waterproof footwear application

ABSTRACT

A waterproof article of footwear, comprising an upper consisted of one or more cut-shaped portions of a flexible waterproof material and a sole coupled to said upper, characterized in that said upper is assembled by stitches applied between peripheral edges of said cut-shaped waterproof material portions, said stitches being covered with a waterproof coating able to couple to said stitches and said upper according to a closeness relationship to each other; and a method of manufacture thereof.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to ItalianApplication No. IT/MC2007U000002 filed Jan. 18, 2007, and entitled“WATERPROOF FOOTWEAR” the entire contents of which are hereby expresslyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to an article of footwear and particularlya waterproof article of footwear, and a method of manufacture thereof.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Several types of articles of footwear are known in the art, which aremade in different ways according to the intended use and the aestheticfeatures required by the manufacturer. There are different methods ofmanufacture also in the field of waterproof articles of footwear; theycan consist of materials as leather or hide, cloth or the like, whichare made waterproof by appropriate substances which are applied orimpregnated. Furthermore, articles of footwear can be made directly bymolding a waterproof material such as a plastic material.

A major problem relates to the effective waterproofing ability, that isthe actual waterproofness of the article of footwear; while testing thewaterproofing ability, the critical issue is substantially embodied bythe stitches of the article of footwear, because they are mostly subjectto infiltrations. It is apparent that the article of footwear could beassembled in different ways, that is by gluing or hot-welding, or theycan even be made integrally; however, it is likely apparent that allthese solutions lead to problems which are difficult to be solved.Gluing or hot-welding the parts causes the article of footwear to becomeweak, mainly against those stresses whose application directions aredifferent from the connection face of the parts.

Instead, the integrally-formed article of footwear leads to problems offlexibility and adaptability to the feet of the user, since it can havea typically approximate morphology; however, in the case of articles offootwear which are high in height such as boots, ankle boots and thelike, the damage is likely to occur in the region intended to thearticulation of the ankle, where it is exposed to the greatest stress.

Thus, an aim of the present invention is to provide an article offootwear which can ensure a high waterproofness along with an improvedcomfortability and wearability, while still being very strong. Anotherfeature required by the article of footwear of the present invention isflexibility, which is related both to comfortability and practicality.

Another aim of the invention is a method of manufacture of waterproofarticles of footwear to obtain an article of footwear provided with theabove mentioned features.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is a waterproof article offootwear comprising an upper consisted of one or more cut-shapedportions of a flexible waterproof material and a sole coupled to suchupper, such upper being assembled by stitches applied between peripheraledges of said cut-shaped waterproof material portions, such stitchesbeing covered with a waterproof coating able to couple to such stitchesand to such upper near to the same stitches. In a preferred embodiment,such waterproof coating includes a strip of a waterproof film,preferably a thermoplastic or thermal adhesive film, which is applied tothe whole length of the stitches.

In an alternative embodiment, such article of footwear is a boot made upof a flexible and waterproof material which is provided with aribbon-like member at the end opposite to the foot portion of thearticle of footwear, such ribbon-like member being connected to suchboot near the outlet edge thereof.

Preferably, such upper and such sole are made up of low specific weightplastic materials.

Another object of the present invention is a method of manufacture ofwaterproof articles of footwear comprising the steps of: assembling thecut-shaped waterproof material portions making up the upper bystitching; applying a waterproof coating layer to each stitch; couplingsuch waterproof coating layer to the upper; connecting the upper to thesole of the article of footwear.

Other advantages and features of the article of footwear and method ofmanufacture according to the present invention will become apparent fromthe following description of an embodiment thereof, which is provided byway of illustration, and not by way of limitation, with reference to theaccompanying drawings wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of an embodiment of the article offootwear according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view with exploded parts;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of cut-shaped material portions used in themethod of manufacture according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an enlarged detail of a first step of the method ofthe invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an enlarged detail of a second step of the method ofthe invention;

FIGS. 6A to 6C illustrate a way to use the article of footwear of theinvention; and

FIGS. 7A to 7D are four different views which illustrate another way touse the article of footwear of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the article of footwear according to thepresent invention, particularly a boot; reference numeral 1 denotes anupper comprising a front foot portion 101 and two rear leg portions 20;the three portions 101, 201 of the upper 1 are coupled to each other bymeans of stitches 3 which are covered with a strip 103 of a waterprooffilm. Holes 211 are formed on both the leg portions 201 at the open endof the boot, near the outlet edge thereof, and such holes are providedwith reinforcement eyelet rings 221.

FIG. 2 shows the boot as shown in FIG. 1, in which like referencenumerals refer to like parts; FIG. 2 shows a sole 2 and a ribbon-likemember 4 whose ends will be passed through the holes 211 and fixed inposition.

FIG. 3 shows cut-shaped waterproof material portions which are used inthe process of manufacturing the article of footwear according to thepresent invention; as already mentioned above, the upper 1 is made up ofthe cut-shaped foot portion 101 and the two cut-shaped leg portions 201which will be assembled as described hereinbelow. FIG. 4 shows the firststage of the method according to the invention; the two cut-shapedwaterproof material portions 201 are coupled to each other by means of azigzag stitch 3; FIG. 5 shows the subsequent step, in which the stitch 3is covered with the waterproof film strip 103. The film is attached tothe waterproof material of the upper by hot-welding; alternatively, thefilm can be provided with a layer of a thermal adhesive material. Thewaterproof film strip 103 of the embodiment shown in the figure is aboutthree times the stitch of choice in width; strips of different width canbe used according to the type of stitch and the material of the upper,and generally the width is preferably at least twice the width of thestitch in order to ensure a more effective waterproofness.

FIGS. 6A to 6C show how the boot of FIG. 1 can be easily folded bywrapping the leg portion 201 around the foot portion 101; in thefigures, the ribbon-like member 4 is passed through the holes 211. Asseen in FIGS. 7A to 7D, the ribbon-like member can be positioned aroundthe boot wrapped in the manner shown in FIG. 6C, resulting in a greatlydecreased volume occupied by the boot, and a stability of such wrappingstate.

Therefore, the so-designed article of footwear has several advantagescompared to the prior art. Firstly, the manufacture of the article offootwear according to the method of the present invention ensures anincreased durability of the stitches without using extremely complicatedor expensive procedures. The waterproofing of the stitches allows thearticle of footwear to be made according to the usual and provenconstruction rules of the art without denaturalizing the morphologicaland aesthetic features of the shoe in order to make it waterproof. Theupper of the article of footwear of the invention can consist of anynumber of pieces, starting from one piece and one stitch to connect it,and the adopted stitches can be zigzag, straight or internal pinchstitches. The only important thing is that each stitch is coated with awaterproof film which is applied to the outward face thereof.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Therefore, this method enables to use extremely light and flexiblematerials, resulting in a substantial reduction of the volume occupiedby the article of footwear when it has to be put away. As it is apparentfrom FIGS. 6A to 7D, a boot made according to the present invention hasa substantially reduced size once it is wrapped; the use of theribbon-like member 4 connected to the free end of the leg portion of theboot as blocking means of the boot in the wrapped configuration of FIGS.7A to 7D appears to be even more convenient.

1. A waterproof article of footwear, comprising an upper consisted ofone or more cut-shaped portions of a flexible waterproof material and asole coupled to said upper, characterized in that said upper isassembled by stitches applied between peripheral edges of saidcut-shaped waterproof material portions, said stitches being coveredwith a waterproof coating able to couple to said stitches and to saidupper near to the same stitches.
 2. A waterproof article of footwearaccording to claim 1, wherein said waterproof coating comprises a stripof a waterproof material film which is applied substantially to thewhole length of each stitch.
 3. A waterproof article of footwearaccording to claim 2, wherein said strip of waterproof material film isat least twice the corresponding stitch in width.
 4. A waterproofarticle of footwear according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein saidwaterproof coating is made up of a thermoplastic material.
 5. Awaterproof article of footwear according to any one of claims 1 to 3,wherein said waterproof coating is made up of a thermal adhesivematerial.
 6. A waterproof article of footwear according to any one ofclaims 1 to 5, wherein said article of footwear is a boot made up of aflexible and waterproof material which is provided with a ribbon-likemember at the end opposite to the foot portion of the article offootwear, said ribbon-like member being connected to said boot near aoutlet edge thereof.
 7. A waterproof article of footwear according toclaim 6, wherein said ribbon-like member is engaged in holes provided atthe open end of the leg portion of said article of footwear.
 8. Awaterproof article of footwear according to any one of claims 1 to 7,wherein said upper and said sole are made up of low specific weightplastic materials.
 9. A method of manufacture of waterproof articles offootwear comprising the steps of: assembling cut-shaped waterproofmaterial portions making up the upper by stitching; applying awaterproof coating to each stitch; coupling said waterproof coating tothe upper; connecting the upper to the sole of the article of footwear.